Helion de Villeneuve

Helion de Villeneuve (1270-1346) was Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller from 1319 to 1346, succeeding Foulques de Villaret and preceding Dieudonne de Gozon.

Biography
Helion de Villeneuve was born in 1270 in France, and he joined the Knights Hospitaller monastic order. Villeneuve was mentioned in a story involving the young knight Dieudonne de Gozon, in which he (as Grand Master) refused to let any Hospitaller warriors take on a "dragon" (most likely a serpent or crocodile) that had killed several knights on Rhodes. Gozon killed the dragon against Villeneuve's orders, and Villeneuve had him be disciplined with probation; however, Gozon would become one of Villeneuve's favorites, and Gozon would succeed Villeneuve as Grand Master on Villeneuve's death in 1346.